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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games

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"I'm sorry I made you worry...But I saw it. A world filled with sorrow and despair...withering away!"

— Princess Zelda

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The seventh and eighth games in The Legend of Zelda series were developed by Capcom and released at the same time on the Game Boy Color in 2001. Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages are the first portable Zelda games since Link's Awakening, and use similar graphics and gameplay styles.

Each Oracle game starts with Link being called to a new land by the Triforce. In Seasons he is called to the land of Holodrum, where he witnesses a dancer called Din get kidnapped by the Black Knight Onox, who then sinks the Temple of Seasons into the earth, throwing the seasons of the world into chaos. In Ages Link is sent to Labrynna, where the singer Nayru is possessed by the Evil Sorceress Veran, who uses her powers to travel back in time and manipulate the queen of Labrynna in that time into building an Evil Tower of Ominousness. Link discovers that Din is the Oracle of Seasons and Nayru the Oracle of Ages, and uncovers hints that their capture and the plans of Onox and Veran are just separate parts of a larger, more sinister plot.

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To aid him in his quest, Link receives a signature item in each game. In Seasons he receives the Rod of Seasons, which cycles the seasons through spring, summer, autumn and winter when swung, changing the landscape drastically and allowing him to travel through the land differently. In Ages he receives the Harp of Ages, which allows him to travel back and forth through time, changing the past to change the future and bringing items from one time period into the other. Other new gameplay features include magic rings Link can wear for various benefits, and the ability to call on one of three animal companions to navigate unfriendly terrain and fight enemies. Each game also has slightly different items for Link to use - in Ages the Power Bracelet upgrades into the Power Glove, while in Seasons Link instead trades in the Roc's Feather for the Roc's Cape.

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The true story of the two games is revealed via a "linked game" — the player finishes one game, they receive a password they can input when they begin a new game in the other game. This password triggers new plot developments and storylines to be introduced, revealing it was more than just one evil plan set in motion and to truly save the day Link must go to the other land to save them there.

These games provide examples of:

Aborted Arc: Ambi's arc if one completes Seasons first - if you complete Ages first and link to Seasons, then it receives closure. The lover who departed her? Yeah, that's the pirate captain.

Achilles' Heel: Veran is effectively invincible when performing her Demonic Possession, because the heroes don't want to harm her host. However, hitting her with a mystery seed briefly breaks her possession spell, allowing her to be attacked directly. She tries to cover this by investigating mystery seeds early in the story (presumably to defend herself against them), though ironically this leads Link straight to the tree that produces them. Probably also doubles as a Weaksauce Weakness, though the seeds are at least somewhat rare.

Almighty Idiot: Because Twinrova sacrificed herself (since Link had pretty much killed her anyway) instead of Zelda, Ganon Came Back Wrong and was resurrected as only a bloodthirsty killing machine.

The Artifact: As the Trivia page goes into detail on, the two games were originally a trilogy, the third of which would have a theme of color, while a remake of the original NES Legend of Zelda was also planned. This still shows up in some ways:

Oracle of Seasons, the first dungeon looks like the first dungeon of Legend of Zelda, and 6 bosses in Seasons are taken from Legend of Zelda with one of the other bosses coming from A Link to the Past. The overworld map also has a couple similarities to Legend of Zelda.

Oracle of Ages, the past is much more drab and washed-out of color than the present, and several dungeon puzzles involve color (such as rotating blocks with three colors, tiles that change color when Link walks on or jumps over them, etc).

Bad Future: Inverted in Ages — the present's generally bright and cheery while the past is screwed up. Played straight with Symmetry Village, however. You first go there in the present and find some ruins. You then visit it in the past and learn that it's about to be destroyed by an active volcano, and only by restoring the Tuni Nut can the village be saved. One sidequest later, the volcano is made dormant, and you can now visit an actual village in the present.

Bag of Spilling: You lose most of your stuff in the transition from one game to the next, being left with only four heart containers and a wooden sword. You can pick up your old rings once you reach town, however.

Bare-Fisted Monk: As a matter of fact, this can be invoked by the player. The Punch and Expert Rings allow Link to punch for damage if there are no items equipped on the A or B slots. Obviously you're going to need items to advance, but there have been more than a few playthroughs involving as little "equip time" as possible.

Beat the Curse Out of Him: Unusually for the Zelda series, this is subverted in Ages, where you can't attack Veran when she's possessing someone because doing so would supposedly only hurt her host. Defeating Veran when she's possessing Nayru and later, Queen Ambi requires shooting Mystery Seeds at her and to remove Veran's spirit from her body, and then switching places with Veran to attack her before she can repossess her host.

Big Bad: If you look at the games seperately and ignore the linked game, Onox in Seasons and Veran in Ages. Together, however, the Big Bad is Twinrova, with Ganon as the Greater-Scope Villain.

The Big Guy: Ricky. Which animal companion is your favorite or most useful comes down to subjective preferences. But objectively, the kangaroo qualifies as the strongest and fastest of the three and can hop over single holes and jump up cliffs with ease.

Bizarre Seasons: Occurs in Seasons. The seasons are all a jumbled mess because of the Oracle being imprisoned and the Temple of Seasons being sunk below the earth.

Bonus Feature Failure: The Bombchus are only acquired as a bonus after starting a New Game+, are not particularly useful at any point in the game, and are not normally dropped by defeated enemies, making them difficult to stock up on.

While you can restock them on Maple's Hut in either game, it's still a bad idea, given how they're horribly overpriced, and the shop is located, in both versions, at places that require a bit too much of effort to visit regularly.

Book-Ends: In Oracle of Ages, the main treasure of the first dungeon is the Power Bracelet, and the main treasure of the last dungeon is the Power Glove. (Both dungeons are even located in the same areas of the Overworld: one in the present, and one in the past.)

Bow and Sword, in Accord: Averted! Along with Zelda II, the Oracle games are the only Zelda games with no Bow to speak of. Instead, both games provide an item with which you can use different types of seeds as ammo.

Some of the rings. One is awarded by using a Hero's Secret. Another two can be bought from stores that are only available by playing the game on a GBA. Another ring is given as a reward for beating Ganon in a linked game. There's also the rings you get for killing 1000 enemies and breaking 100 signs. The first ring you get would even count as one.

Played with the bonus-items you get when you're playing a Linked Game. They're Bragging Rights Rewards in the first game you play, but since you're able to get them in the middle of a Linked Game, they can get a lot of usage.

In Seasons, a literal one that gets fixed by parking a ship in the gap.

There are several which in both games which seems to be the standard for handheld Zeldas. There is always a rock, pit, river, and very large pit that require the power bracelets, Roc's feather, flippers, and hookshot equivalent that open up new areas.

Brutal Bonus Level: A linked game has the Hero's Cave, which needs the treasures up to the 7th dungeon to complete. Prepare yourself for some of the most hair-pullingly frustrating puzzles a 2D Zelda game has ever pitted you against.

Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The owners of the Subrosian Smithy in Seasons. Rather than offering to do a job, they will wait for Link to ask, and will only do it if he bluntly demands the job to be done and refuse if he asks politely.

Call-Forward: Zelda's character sprite is Marin's with a crown, because he thought she was Zelda when he first woke up on Koholint Island.

Chimney Entry: Link has to enter the chimney of a woman's house during the winter in order to gain access to the second dungeon. She initially mistakes him for Santa Claus (a chimney sweep in the European version).

Climax Boss: Veran-possessed Nayru in Ages, who is fought shortly after completing the sixth dungeon.

Clown-Car Grave: Each game has at least one undead themed dungeon, where this trope is played straight (in Ages there are even two of them). Though strangely, undead enemies are seen at a lot of other locations where there aren't any graves at all.

Seasons has a ton of references to the first game, which makes sense, considering that these games began development as remakes of the NES games. Most notably, the first level has a similar layout to the first level of the original game, and the same boss is also featured.

The other bosses from the original are also in Seasons. Dodongo returns to his role as the second boss; Gohma (actually the last level boss to appear in the original, first showing up as the boss of the sixth dungeon) is up fourth; Digdogger is again the fifth boss; Manhandla, the third boss of the original game, guards the sixth dungeon; and a three-headed Gleeok (like the others, a recurring boss in the first game, ranging in head count from two in its initial appearance as the fourth dungeon's boss to four as the eighth dungeon's boss) guards the seventh dungeon.

Mothula, boss of the third dungeon, is also a returner, but from A Link to the Past rather than the first game.

Most of the other games in the series are referenced, as well. Subrosia bears more than a passing resemblance to the Dark World of A Link to the Past, and Link's Awakening is also heavily borrowed from (somewhat inevitable, as the Oracle games are built on the same engine as Link's Awakening).

After killing the Twinrova sisters in Ocarina of Time, they say that they'll come back to haunt Link. They probably don't realize it's a different Link, nonetheless, in the Linked Game, you see what they meant.

The time travel mechanics in Oracle of Ages borrow heavily from the Dark World mechanics in A Link to the Past, especially during the part of the game when you only have the first two tunes for the harp- the Tune of Echoes to open time portals that work like the Dark World portals, and the Tune of Currents that serves as a one-way transportation from the past to the future (while opening a temporary portal back in your arrival point), working like the Magic Mirror.

Continuity Snarl: Even ignoring the question of canonical order within the pair, these games have some issues fitting into the official timeline. Hyrule Historia places them in the Downfall branch as interquels between A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, all featuring the same incarnation of Link. However, Zelda seems to know Link only by reputation in a linked game. To make matters worse, A Link Between Worlds seems to offer up yet more contradictions. In the opening animations for the Oracle games, Link is shown approaching the completed Triforce in Hyrule Castle, yet Ganon somehow came back into possession of the Triforce of Power before A Link Between Worlds started. The latter game also makes no mention of Ganon getting resurrected successfully since his defeat in A Link to the Past; even discounting Twinrova's attempt in a linked game, there still doesn't seem to be a way for Ganon to reclaim his piece while deceased, plus the inconsistencies with Ganon being dead versus sealed away. Not helping is the later Hyrule Encyclopedia and Japanese Zelda.com's conflicting timeline placements, placing the games after Link's Awakening with the former also claiming that it features a different Link from those other games. The "official" word just leaves more questions than answers about the games' placement in the timeline.

Dark World: Subrosia subverts this; despite being made of lava and and having erupting volcanoes it's actually a rather pleasant place with few enemies and mostly easygoing inhabitants.

Deep Sleep: The Maku Tree in Seasons does almost nothing besides sleeping.

Degraded Boss: A cross-game example: The boss of the Face Shrine (the sixth of eight main dungeons) in Link's Awakening makes a return as the mini-boss of the second dungeon in Seasons. He appears again later without the ability to put holes in the floor, degrading him further.

In Seasons, it's possible to sequence break to the area of the eighth dungeon using Pegasus Seeds and the Roc's Feather. However, the trigger required in order to enter the dungeon is missing if you don't have the other seven essences. On top of that, there are two bushes right outside the area that holds the dungeon that always give Pegasus Seeds to allow you to go back to the area where you broke sequence.

It's possible to do dungeons out of order. The Maku Tree has alternate dialogue if you do this.

In rare instances, you can run into Maple on particularly watery maps. If all of her items sink underwater during the collision, she'll treat you to some alternate dialogue.

If you manage to beat Twinrova, but lose to Ganon and go back to him, Twinrova will be defeated.

In a linked Ages game you don't automatically talk to Impa outside the Black tower when Vire kidnaps Zelda. Meaning you can carry on to Symmetry City without doing the event. However Mutoh will not be at the Bridge if you do.

Dig Attack: The miniboss of the Moonlit Grotto in Oracle of Ages is a mole with a drill nose that attacks from underneath (and is invincible while doing so). You defeat it by digging up its Worm Sign with the shovel and hitting it as it flops around.

Distressed Damsel: The Oracles. More egregiously with Din; Onox sends a little tornado to carry her away and she's not seen again until Link goes and rescues her. Less so with Nayru, because Veran possessed her, and presumably she didn't have the strength or the time (likely both) to resist, and she's freed approximately once you're about two thirds through the game. And Princess Zelda in a linked game.

A less literal example is Seasons, where the Rod of Seasons changes the seasons but you remain in the same world. The effects are the same though, the environment changes to open/close new paths depending on the season, like snow piling up or lakebeds drying up. A bit more straightforward with Subrosia, the land that holds the Temple of Seasons and a few key items and events.

Dummied Out: The 3DS Virtual Console releases treat the games as if they are played on a Game Boy Color, meaning the Advance Shops are inaccessible and there are two rings that you can't get (unless you bring them over from the original cartridges or cheat the password system into giving them to you, that is). Likewise, the Blue Snake in Vasu's shop is inactive because the 3DS doesn't use link cables.

Empty Room Psych: The rooms for linked secrets have no one in them until it's time to receive or give a secret to someone that will appear there.

Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: A red Dodongo named Dimitri that you can ride to swim through fast currents. He can also eat enemies in one gulp. And you can pick him up and throw him to hurt enemies. Also, he's the hardest friend to get a flute for in Seasons (in Ages, you just buy the flute at the store).

Fission Mailed: In Seasons, if you talk to the sign shop owner in Subrosia after destroying 100 signs, the startup screen will appear as if the game had been reset. However, you'll return back to the shop after a moment and get a ring commemorating your hatred of signs.

Flipping Helpless: The boss of the fourth dungeon in Oracle of Ages, beaten by flipping it with the Switch Hook.

Onox can manifest as a tornado and can produce smaller ones in battle.

Veran forces the people of Labrynna to build the stone Black Tower, smothering the surrounding area in dust and mud.

Four-Seasons Level: A core game mechanic of Seasons. Swing the Rod of Seasons, the seasons change and new paths open. Spring blooms the Rock Flowers, Summer drains water and raises vines, Fall covers holes with leaves, and Winter freezes water and trees lose their leaves, allowing Link to pass through.

Fun with Palindromes: Oracle of Ages features Symmetry City, whose survival depends on the total equality between the two sides. The name of the artifact that maintains the balance? Tuni Nut!

Gameplay and Story Segregation: Link isn't actually present in the scene where Veran mentions what her weakness is. All he knew was that she "desired" them, according to Ambi, which could have meant anything.

Global Currency Exception: Subrosia in Seasons uses chunks of ore as currency, not rupees. You can even buy rupees with ores!

God Save Us from the Queen!: A subverted example. Queen Ambi in Ages is actually a very kind and good woman; the reason why things get bad is because her naivety allows Veran (in Nayru's body) to manipulate her with ease. Then, later on, it's because Veran possesses her.

You can actually determine which animal partner you receive by acquiring the flute in one of two ways (either buying it in a shop, or winning it in a minigame), or not acquiring it at all (at which point you get the third option automatically at a certain point in the plot). There are no hints at all to this; none of the flutes other than the automatic one tell you which animal they go to, and the minigames don't even give you an indication that you can win a flute with them to begin with.

In Seasons, you are very likely to forget (despite being told by the autumn spirit upon obtaining the power) that autumn also fills in certain holes with leaves. You need to do this once in order to get to the 8th dungeon. This even threw off the official guidebook, which advised you that you needed to try and jump the gap with the Roc's Cape, a virtually impossible feat.

In Oracle of Ages there is a ring located behind a bombable wall at Rolling Ridge. Bombable walls normally have cracks present to alert the player to their presence, but there are no cracks at this spot nor is there anything else in the game to indicate it's presence (aside from the sound you hear if you happen to bang against it with your sword). In addition, there are two other rings that can only be acquired via mini-games, but in both cases the ring rewards are randomized with more common rings that are not exclusive to the mini-game. Meaning even if the player masters the mini-game they likely won't realize they can win an exclusive ring if they keep winning unless they look it up or get lucky and win them early on.

The Hero's Cave in Ages has a puzzle room where the player must step on all the blue tiles to turn them red in a continuous, uninterrupted path. However, there will always be one blue tile left. Are you doing something wrong? No, this is by design — you're meant to use the Cane of Somaria to cover up the blue tile with a red block, and that makes the chest appear. There are no hints you're meant to do this, and the solution sounds more like a fan rumor than an actual developer intent.

Unless you're following a guide or basing off of past playthrough experience, you are unlikely to know that you can and should use the Rod of Seasons to bat away the trapped Din being used as a Human Shield when fighting Onox. Or you could just transfer a Green Holy Ring (which grants immunity to electricity) over from Ages and ignore her completely.

Hailfire Peaks: The Sword-and-Shield dungeon in Seasons. The floor shaped like a shield is ice-themed, while the floor shaped like a sword is fire-themed.

Hijacked by Ganon: The second example within the series (the first being A Link to the Past), but actually not performed by the Trope Namer. The hijacking is actually done by Koume and Kotake, his surrogate parents from Ocarina of Time. Ganon is the Final Boss, but he's not directly involved with the plot other than the fact that the plot was to revive him.

Hollywood Magnetism: The magnet gloves. Almost all objects which you can attract towards you/pull yourself towards are not only magnets, but monopolar magnets (the gloves switch between a north and south magnetic charge so you can push and pull). However, they also affect Iron Mask and Darknut enemies, due to their metal mask and armor.

Hot Witch: Veran, the villainess of Ages. Just see here. She does have a bit of a Vain Sorceress vibe to her, though. Ironically, her true form is a beetle, which can turn into a bee and a spider...even she remarks she is reluctant to use it, because it is so hideous, and may have something to do with her vanity in retrospect...

Imperfect Ritual: The witch sisters Twinrova are preparing a ritual that will resurrect Ganon, by sacrificing Princess Zelda, but Link interrupts the ritual. They are forced to sacrifice themselves in order to finish the ritual, which creates a mindless, raging Ganon that Link is able to defeat.

If an item has a "L1" next to its icon in the menu, you'll pick up an upgraded version of it somewhere later in the game.

The life meter subverts this. Playing through a fresh game file, it looks like the meter maxes out at 14 hearts, just as in Link's Awakening. However, through a linked game it's possible to earn a 15th (16th in later playthroughs that start with four) heart container, which results in the status bar rearranging itself to accommodate two more hearts.

Interquel: Set in between A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, according to Hyrule Historia. There was evidence to support this before the book's release, including Link's very specific hairstyle in the four games, as well as the boat Link departs on after this series' True Ending looking strikingly similar to the one that gets struck by lightning in Link's Awakening. Additionally, Link's Awakening alluded to Link having many adventures after slaying Ganon before his ship sank, so these games cover two of them. Many characters (and sprites) from these games also appear in Link's Awakening, and that makes perfect sense. The Wind Fish, and Link, are dreaming.

The Maku Tree has romantic designs on Link in Ages, which is more of an interKINGDOM romance.

Debatably, Queen Ambi (human) and Cap'n (undead). This is only revealed during a linked game in Seasons, so it's possible that Cap'n was alive around the time Ambi was alive as well. A bit of Fridge Logic in that Ralph is Queen Ambi's descendant. Given that Queen Ambi is the only one mentioned in the royal line, sooner or later she'd have either had to marry someone else or she and Cap'n would have had to be reunited. Eventually.

In Seasons, Link woos and dates Subrosian pop star Rosa so he can borrow her magical key to unlock a few doors.

In the Hood: All Subrosians wear hoods that leave nothing of their faces visible except their large, white eyes.

Jerkass: Some of the Tokay. Upon finding you passed out, they decide to loot your body of your possessions. Then, seeing you wake up, they decide to run away instead of giving it back upon being found out and making up an excuse. One of them in particular stands out, as he calls your stuff his, and requires you to get other things in order to get your stuff back, despite Link seeing him take them.

Joke Item: You can find magic rings that transform you into certain enemies or NPCs. However, wearing them prevents you from using any of your items or weapons, and they don't give you any new attacks or abilities. It's kind of funny to walk around as an Octorok though.

They do make you immune to being eaten by Like-Likes (possibly due to developer oversight), but since the Like-Likes in these games aren't hard to kill or avoid, they're arguably Cool, But Inefficient rather than useless.

Jump Physics: Subtly improved from Link's Awakening, as jumping during the top-down portions of the game (i.e. almost all of the game) moves you through Z-levels (as in, actual altitude) instead of faking it by putting you in the "jump" state while artificially moving you through Y-levels. This also explains why attacking in the air doesn't hit enemies on the ground, but instead hits the ones that are in the air (meaning they can hit flaming bats if they're low enough, or the jumping Stalfos mid-jump).

Lethal Joke Item: The Fool's Ore which the two Subrosians give you after they steal your Roc's Feather is, for the most part, a useless piece of junk that does nothing. However, if you dig up a Fire Pokey, you can one shot it with the Fool's Ore (it takes several hits from the sword to do the same thing). Unfortunately, Fire Pokeys are the only enemy you can use it on since you leave it behind when you get the Roc's Feather back.

Lethal Lava Land: Subrosia has tons of lava (Seeing how's it underground and a giant temple just fell in), with the occasional eruption for you to dodge, but it's really more of a subversion: there are few enemies, and the inhabitants are friendly.

Like Father, Unlike Son: The son of Bipin the Gasha Seed farmer, can grow up to have a completely different job than his father depending on certain player choices. While Bipin's son growing up to be either a warrior or a musician has varying degrees of contrast to his father, it is if he grows up to be a complete "slacker" that he contrasts the most with his hardworking father.

Lost in Translation: The name of the Tuni Nut is translated directly in some languages, ruining the pun.

Luck-Based Mission: Two Heart Pieces can only be gained by Gasha Nuts and running into Maple.

Magic Wand: The Rod of Seasons. Though you need to use it physically to beat Onox.

Magnetic Weapons: Link's magnetic gloves in Seasons. In order to defeat the dungeon boss, he has to crush it by directing a giant spiked ball with them.

The Man Behind the Man: At first, Onox and Veran would appear to be the Big Bads of Seasons and Ages respectively, doing what they're doing because, well, they're insane and just like being evil. But later on, it turns out that all along, both of them were actually working at the command of Koume and Kotake, and their actions actually had a deeper purpose: to light some magical flames as part of a ritual to resurrect Ganon, the primary antagonist of the Zelda series.

Meanwhile, in the Future...: The story progression of Ages can be monitored by the progress of the Final Dungeon, regardless of what era you're in.

The Mentor: The Maku Tree in both games. After completing each dungeon, they are able to sense that you've just collected another Essence, and are able to give you a hint about where to go to find the next one (the Seasons Maku Tree dreams about them, and the Ages Maku Tree "hears" them.)

Missing Secret: If you play Ages first there's one square on the map that you'll never be able to explore.

Wallmasters, as in other games in the series. Though this time, they are much easier to dodge than in A Link to the Past.

For the first time, Floormasters count as this trope as they emerge from the floor to grab you and throw you back to the beginning of the dungeon.

In Oracle of Ages, as you escape Veran's Tower, a Wallmaster will grab you and throw you into the room for the final battle against Veran.

Also Din and Nayru although a less blatant case.

Morton's Fork: Of a benign sort. In Ages, there's a Goron in the past who asks you for some Ember Seeds and Bombs to help him dig for treasure. If you hand them over and come back later, you'll see he's blown out the wall and revealed two treasure chests. He tells you to pick one, but your choice is actually completely meaningless since their contents are identical anyway. note The item is a Red Luck Ring, which reduces damage from spiked floors by half and isn't even particularly useful in the first place, if you were wondering.

Name's the Same: Labrynna (Ages) is the only Zelda game to have both River Zoras (Evil) and Lake Zoras (Good), and explains that they are separate species that don't like each other; though evolutionary cousins.

Narrative Shapeshifting: This appears to be the case when Link is telling the Funny Joke to the depressed boy, as Link's body contorts in ways never before seen from our favorite Heroic Mime.

Nerf: The jumping distance when using the Roc's Feather was shortened compared to the jumping distance in Link's Awakening. This is however inverted in Seasons when you pick up Roc's Cape which is a L2 Roc's Feather.

New Game+: Beat a linked series and you get a code that lets you do your next playthrough (ideally by switching the order of the games as there are secrets exclusive to both orders) starting with 4 hearts and all your rings, plus a special ring acknowledging you defeated Ganon. The story does start over, though.

In Ages, the only reason Veran is able to possess Naryu is because Link disrupts the barrier separating the two in a But Thou Must! moment.

A much more literal example in Ages, is getting to the second dungeon. After going through the Fairies' Woods to reach it, there is a rock in the way. Okay, equip the Power Bracelet, and move it, except this makes the WHOLE FREAKING DUNGEON COLLAPSE...and you have to use time travel to get in at that point...

No-Sell: The three "Holy Rings" grant immunity to three different types of damage. The green one in particular can be used to ignore Onox's Human Shield, but it has to be transferred over from Ages.

Nostalgia Level: The aforementioned references to the first game often involve similarities between dungeons. In particular, the first dungeon of Seasons has a similar layout to the first dungeon of the original Legend of Zelda, with the same boss.

One Game for the Price of Two: Both averted and played straight: the games by themselves are completely different (items, dungeons, bosses and so on), but if you want to complete the storyline you need to play a Linked Game requiring both games. And a linked game is a sort of New Game+. You start off with one more heart container than normal and can access more things than a fresh game.

Both games contain an "Advance" shop that can only be accessed when playing on a Game Boy Advance. In the Virtual Console release of the games for the 3DS, the shop cannot be accessed and the items inside cannot be obtained. Said items are merely an early supply of Gasha Seeds and a ring that's a Bragging Rights Reward, but players seeking to acquire everything will find themselves a couple rings short simply due to developer oversight.

If you play Ages first in a linked game, there's one square on that game's map (an island in the ocean) that you'll never be able to explore.

Playable Epilogue: A non-linked game has this, allowing you to continue to play in the peaceful world- this has to be done to facilitate the password-unlocked sidequests.

Player-Guided Missile: Oracle of Seasons is is the only Zelda game whose Magic Boomerang can be directly controlled in-flight.

Post-Kiss Catatonia: Link goes into one of these after receiving a Smooch of Victory from Princess Zelda in the linked ending. The Maku Tree in Ages will tear upon seeing this, given her crush on Link.

Random Drops: Most of the rings are obtained randomly from Gasha Nuts, minigames, or Maple. Also, Maple and a Gasha nut randomly drop a Heart Piece in both games.

Ripple Effect-Proof Memory: Applied inconsistently in Ages. The residents of Lynna City are aware that the Black Tower is getting taller in the present as it gets built in the past, but other instances of changes in history (such as Link saving the life of King Zora) go unnoticed.

San Dimas Time: In Ages, Veran goes back in time to alter things in her favor. Some of the effects are instantaneous, while others, like the construction of the Tower, are incremental based on your progress through the game.

Save This Person, Save the World: Play straight with Din in Seasons, but averted with Nayru in Ages. Link actually manages to save Nayru and get her back to the present shortly after the sixth dungeon, but Veran is able to possess Queen Ambi and as she's still in the past can use Ambi's influence to complete her scheme even without Nayru.

Second Hour Superpower: The plot item in either game (Harp of Ages and Rod of Seasons) can only be obtained between the completion of the first dungeon and trying to find a way to the second dungeon.

Sequel Difficulty Spike: Both games are significantly more challenging than Link's Awakening, with Seasons being tougher in terms of action and Ages in terms of puzzles.

Shadow Walker: The boss of the Moonlit Grotto teleports around its arena, appearing directly behind the player in a puddle of shadow, disappearing if you turn to face it. How fortunate that the dungeon's item allows you to bounce seeds off walls.

Shaped Like Itself: All of the game's dungeon layouts are based on their names (e.g. the Wing Dungeon's rooms form a bird, Sword-and-Shield is shaped like...well, guess). This is not entirely clear in the beginning, as it is only obvious after revealing the whole map of each dungeon.

Shout-Out: Many, many to the original Legend of Zelda in Seasons. Even most of the bosses in Seasons are re-worked versions of the original Zelda bosses.

One of the Mini-Bosses in a linked Ages game is a shout out to the original Donkey Kong arcade. This is probably the only Shout-Out example from Ages.

And Onox's Scaled Up form has a marked resemblance to Sigma's final form in the original Mega Man X1, given that Capcom helped make the two games.

More of Capcom's traces are in the 4th dungeon of Seasons, as there is an underground platforming section where you cross a chasm by jumping across blocks that appear and disappear in a preset sequence, a very common obstacle in the Mega Man series.

An unlinked game has plenty of hooks leading into the linked game's story.

At the very end of the linked game, you see that Link is heading off in a boat to sea, which doesn't end well for our hero...

Sequence Breaking: It is possible in Seasons to do the 5th dungeon before the 4th one if you know how to get Autumn.

It is possible to skip the Subrosian Dance to get the Level 1 Boomerang, by using a bomb to activate the switch in the winter tower.

Also in Seasons, you can obtain the next level sword without doing the Chain of Deals. All the quest does is give you a hint to get the sword. Which is, en route to the sixth dungeon, is to head west through the woods while getting warmer. Meaning start at winter, then head left, turn it to fall, then spring and finally summer to get the sword.

Again in Seasons, it's possible to get past certain areas that normally require Roc's Cape by using Pegasus Seeds and the Roc's Feather together, as it extends your jump ability from one tile to three. Provided you get the timing just right, that is.

Ricky's ability to climb up cliffs allows you to get to places much easier than either Dimitri or Moosh, barring locations you need them to access.

Side Quest: A bunch are unlocked after you beat the first game and can only be completed with passwords that you use in the second.

Small Role, Big Impact: Ambi's lover, the lost sailor, whose disappearance caused her to build the tower and weakened her to Veran's manipulations, is essentially responsible for the entire plot of Ages, despite not even appearing at any point in that game. He does appear in Seasons, though — a linked game reveals that he's the skeleton pirate captain!

Snot Bubble: The Maku Tree in Seasons always has one of these, despite being, well, a tree. Popping it with your sword is the only way to get him to wake up and engage in conversation.

Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: Bipin and Blossom's son grows from a baby to a child during the course of the first game you play, then into a teenager during a linked game. If you choose the Farmer path, he actually looks older than his dad!

Socialization Bonus: Each have two flavors of this bonus: Firstly, a pair of players of either game can link their systems up to trade magic rings, in a manner that ought to be familiar to anyone who's played Pokémon. Secondly, a collection of cryptic passwords, along with vague hints for their intended recipients, are sometimes spoken by NPCs in each game. Writing down the password and telling it to the respective NPC in the other game will unlock a bonus for that game, and occasionally a very powerful one at that. This system is even utilized at the end of each game, too; typing in the password from after the end credits of one game into a new save file of the other will allow one to play a "linked game", which ties together their storylines and even enables a Golden Ending for both of them. The password system was cleverly designed such that, while a single player with both games will be able to fully experience it, it could also be effectively used for a pair of friends who each have a different version.

Stable Time Loop: A ton of these can be observed in Ages, since there's a lot of time traveling.

Ambi's Castle in Ages. Oddly enough, if you're spotted outside the castle you're immediately thrown out, but once you get inside you can fight back against the guards if they see you.

The Subrosians in Seasons are fond of this. You have to stalk Rosa to find the portals into Subrosia to begin with, and later on the Strange Brothers steal your Roc's Feather and you have to follow them to recover it. You can do this again to get different rewards.

Sunken City: Which, incidentally, did not become sunken until after Onox sunk the Temple of Seasons. Its name before being sunken, if it had one, is never revealed.

Super Drowning Skills: Played straight in both games until you get the Flippers. In Ages it continues to be played straight even after getting them, because another item that you acquire much later in the game is required for swimming in "deep water" (such as in the sea).

Swirly Energy Thingy: In Ages, these are the warps between the eras of Labrynna. In Seasons, these are the warps between Holodrum and Subrosia.

Taken for Granite: Happens to some creatures and people in Ages due to the time distortion. Also, the 8th boss in Seasons is basically a giant Medusa head (no, not that one), so expect to see petrifying attacks.

Tennis Boss: It's a Zelda game, so naturally each game has one miniboss in which you must deflect its blasts before you can injure it. The one in Seasons is an homage to Aghanim as well as Ganon's "Technique of Darkness".

The Three Faces of Eve: The three Oracles (shown in the trope page image) are Din, an outgoing dancer (seductress); Nayru, a gentle singer (wife); and Farore, a helpful intellectual (child). Unfortunately, the game which was supposed to feature Farore was canceled. Incidentally, the Oracles share their names with a trio of goddesses in the series mythology (Din, the goddess of power; Nayru, the goddess of wisdom, and Farore, the goddess of courage).

Time Paradox: Ages again, of the Ontological variety...just where did that Bomb Flower on Rolling Ridge come from, anyway? Or the Goron Vase, come to think of it?

Time Travel: Ages again: Boy plays a harp and goes back and forth in time.

Timey-Wimey Ball: Ages happily juggles several balls at once. The game mostly goes with the idea of San Dimas time — as Link proceeds through the game, work on the Black Tower in the past continues, and it grows taller in the present in time with it's construction in the past. However, it's not consistent. To list some of the problems that arise:

The third dungeon, Moonlit Grotto, is entered in the present, and takes the form of a cave with a face. In the past this same cave is sealed because it is missing an eye, which is what opens it later. A Tokay near the cave in the present says that in the past a "Tokay with no tail" (what they call Link) opened the cave, something which Link hasn't done yet and will not until the end of the game. At this point Link doesn't even know enough (the Tokay's remark not withstanding) to know that opening the cave in the past is something he will have to eventually do.

There are several Stable Time Loops. For once such instance, the Goron vase Link gets from a Goron in the present is the same vase Link must now go and give to the Goron's ancestor, who says he will pass it down through the family. Even with the same event, the game fails to be consistent. The Gorons of Rolling Ridge in the present give Link a Bomb Flower in thanks for defeating the Great Moblin, after which the Maku Tree tells Link that his name has suddenly appeared in legends as a Goron hero who saved their Elder centuries ago. However, before you defeat the Great Moblin, the Gorons mention that long ago a young boy brought Bomb Flowers to Rolling Ridge and they're now the Goron staple crop.

Underwater Boss Battle: The sixth and seventh dungeons in Ages—the boss of the sixth moves back and forth between the surface and underwater, while the seventh is underwater for the entire battle.

In both games, there are only four areas where you need an animal companion to progress, one for each of them and a fourth that changes layout to fit the companion you've been determined to keep. Otherwise, you can get all items without them. Additionally, Seasons has the Roc's Cape and Ages has the Mermaid Suit, allowing Link to jump further and swim in the ocean, respectively. This makes Moosh's hovering obsolete in Seasons and Dimitri's swimming obsolete in Ages, because any area they can reach in those games, Link will eventually be able to get to on his own. Thus, the only companion with powers worth using is Ricky, who can jump up cliffs to reach areas you'd otherwise have to take the long way to. To be fair, Dimitri can eat several monsters in the water like Zoras and fire flowers that otherwise Link would have to dodge and avoid. His speed and ease of control in swimming also makes traversing the map much easier.

The upgraded Power Bracelet, the Power Glove, from Oracle of Ages is considerably limited in its uses when compared to Oracle of Season's upgraded Roc's Feather, the Roc's Cape. The former only really sees a couple of obscure optional uses outside getting it in the last dungeon, while the latter has the much appreciated added utility of increased mobility and dodging capabilities. The latter is also gotten one whole dungeon sooner, allowing for more chances to use it for the remainder of the game.

Verbal Tic: The Tokay in the Japanese version have a Pokémon Speak tic of using "toka" at odd moments. This was removed in the English version since Western audiences don't find that quite as endearing.

Seasons lets you throw a pirate's skull around in the desert, and he naturally complains about getting sand in his mouth or water up his nose if you throw him on the ground or in a puddle.

Ages features somebody in a toilet like in Majora's Mask. Naturally...you can throw things into the toilet and get responses. Which include a bomb.

Villain Ball: Twinrova fight Link to the death when he interrupts their resurrection ritual and end up having to sacrifice themselves to bring back Ganon, and an incomplete one at that. Koume and Kotake can only be harmed by each other's magic. Why on Earth would they fight him together? Instead of providing Link with the necessary ammunition to take them both down, there's no apparent reason why one couldn't have remained behind to complete the ritual while the other trapped Link in a Hopeless Boss Fight.

Voodoo Shark: The eighth dungeon in Ages is in the past, located in the part of the world that in the present is the Yoll Graveyard. So why can't Link just go to the graveyard, play the Harp of Ages and warp to the dungeon entrance instantly? Because if you attempt to warp in the Graveyard, "a mysterious force" immediately sends Link back to the present. This is in so you don't just skip right to the dungeon entrance as just described and must do the sidequest to get in there another way, but this "mysterious force" raises a lot of questions. There's a couple of hints it's Veran, since the Black Tower is another small spot where you can't time warp, and the point where you would be going for the 8th dungeon is right after the Black Tower is completed and Veran's power intensifies, but even if you try to warp before that point, you get the same message.

Weather-Control Machine: Onox uses Din's powers to mess up the seasons. Later on, Link gets a rod that can do so whenever he's on a tree stump.

What Happened to the Mouse?: Link rides a horse in the opening cutscene, which he leaves behind before he enters the temple and is transported to Holodrum/Labrynna. That horse is apparently still standing there, waiting for its master to return.

Where It All Began: The eighth dungeon in Ages is located in the same area as the first one, just in the past instead of the present.

Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Or Water, rather. Moosh refuses to go into Sunken City for this reason (Ricky refuses as well, but apparently it smells like medicine and he can't stand that).

Womb Level: The aptly named dungeon "Jabu-Jabu's Belly" has Link dive into the mouth of a giant fish.

Worthless Yellow Rocks: Valuable items like Pieces of Heart and Gasha Seeds are sold in junk stores in Subrosia. Another Subrosian is tantalizingly seen throwing such items into lava in order to cause a volcano to erupt. Sadly, they cannot be caught out of the air.

Yin-Yang Clash: One miniboss in Ages wields a supposedly unbreakable sword, and a supposedly unbreakable shield. You can only defeat him by tricking him into hitting the one with the other, breaking both.

Alternative Title(s):The Legend Of Zelda Oracle Of Seasons, The Legend Of Zelda Oracle Of Ages, Oracle Of Seasons, Oracle Of Ages

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